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Veronica Wiseman

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Veronica Wiseman

Job description: Director at Momentum Training & Consultancy

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Areas of interest: Domestic abuse, Substance use

Veronica Wiseman's Recent Activity

"Myself and a colleague have discovered a programme called "Pattern Changing for Abused Women", an educational programme for women affected by domestic violence. The aim of the programme is to enable women to raise awareness of their own patterns of behaviour and take control over their lives and relationships into the future. Fundamental to the programme.." is a firm belief in basic rights for all persons, an understanding of an ability to set boundaries, and the development of assertiveness skills to ask for our rights and to protect our boundaries" (Goodman & Fallon 1995 ). The programme was first set up in the USA by Goodman & Fallon, but is already being used in the South-West of England with excellent results, and discussed on Radio 4's "Woman's Hour" earlier this year. My colleague, a qualified counsellor, and myself, an experienced trainer & facilitator, are hoping to raise funds to start a 10-12 week closed group to enable at least 8-10 women to explore their patterns of behaviour and develop their assertiveness skills. We have already been promised half the cost of the pilot project from a National charity, and are looking for an organisation to back us with the balance of the costs. It is anticipated that the women considered for the group will already be in a place of safety, and will also have had some group support or counselling, and moved through the initial stages of crisis intervention. The women will be encouraged and supported to share previous patterns of behaviour, and shown how they can make changes for themselves and/or their children. The aim is for the women to be encouraged, after the end of the group sessions, to form their own support group, as they move forward to create new lives for themselves. We are based in West Sussex, and have already been in discussions with the commissioning body locally about this programme. However, we are also considering taking this idea out to other organisations or areas who may be interested in running such a programme. We believe that this programme could be a successful part of enabling abused women to take control, and that women who have this threefold foundation of rights, boundaries and assertiveness will never again find themselves victims of domestic abuse. Contact: Veronica Wiseman, Momentum Training & Consultancy."
Reply To: Prevention and recovery from domestic abuse and sexual violence